
State Sen. Short Defends Wood- and Pellet-Burning Stoves
State Sen. Shelly Short is doubling down on her opposition to S.B. 5174.
To summarize, the legislation "modifies definitions in the Washington Clean Air Act (WCAA) relating to certain wood burning devices." It "grants the Department of Ecology authority to adopt or amend rules: 1) implementing federal emission standards for certain wood-burning devices; 2) establishing state emission standards and certification procedures for certain wood burning devices; and 3) setting state emission standards and other requirements for residential home heating devices burning solid fuels other than wood or pellet fuel."
As you can imagine, Short's assessment is much more unsparing and plainspoken than the bill's language. The 7th District Republican was asked about it in a recent chat with GOP operative Tracy Ellis.

"Essentially," Short replied, "the bill would allow Ecology to determine which wood stoves or pallet stoves would be sold in the state of Washington. This is a solution in search of a problem."
"Right now, EPA is responsible for certifying all stoves, so Ecology is basically contending that EPA isn't doing its job. You can infer from that what you want. What I told Ecology in my meeting with them was, 'Look, my folks in my district use wood heat; they use wood stoves and pallet stoves.' "
"This is one of the least expensive forms of energy. At a time when the state is moving toward complete electricity, we know we may have shortages; we know our infrastructure isn't there to do all the things they want to do in terms of electric cars and, well, you know the mantras."
"This is something we need to preserve. I am fully opposed to what they're doing."
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Gallery Credit: JD Knight
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